A councillor has questioned how objectively Brighton and Hove City Council deals with complaints.
Conservative councillor Anne Meadows spoke out at the council’s the Audit, Standards and General Purposes Committee meeting at Hove Town Hall yesterday (Tuesday 21 April).
The long-serving councillor said that she had less confidence in the complaint-handling process in recent years.
She was also concerned that in the coming year, leading up to the May 2027 local elections, more complaints would be made about councillors – often by other councillors or people with party political motivation.
Councillor Meadows said: “I used to have confidence in the process that it was dealt with fairly and competently but I have been finding recently that genuine complaints don’t go through the process if they’re against the administration.
“Any petty ones against other councillors are carried through with great gusto.”
She said that councillors concerned about the handling of their complaints could take their case to the Local Government Ombudsman.
Green councillor Pete West, who chairs the committee, asked Councillor Meadows to provide examples to substantiate her “serious allegations” – and she offered to do so outside the meeting.
Labour councillor Josh Guilmant said: “It’s going down the route of conspiracy a bit. If there’s an evidence base, then bring it.”
The council’s legal chief Elizabeth Culbert also asked for more details about specific complaints of concern.
She said: “All the complaints received in relation to members do follow the same process – that is our code of conduct as set out in our constitution.
“They are completed at different points in the process as is proportionate to do so. It depends on the nature of the complaint as to whether it reaches a final standards hearing. All complaints received follow the exact same process.”
She said that the Local Government Ombudsman had not found against the council in relation to any standards complaints since she became monitoring officer.
A summary of the complaints made about councillors is published before each meeting of the Audit, Standards and General Purposes Committee although members are not identified.
There are currently three complaints made last October which have carried over to this year, with a formal investigation under way into allegations of inappropriate conduct.
The other two complaints relate to conduct during a councillor’s speech and the content of a newsletter and are not yet concluded.
So far this year, the council has received 10 complaints about members, with five closed and the rest still under investigation.
The open complaints made this year relate to conduct during a council meeting, a social media post, “inaccurate” information provided about council services, a response to a public question and the position taken by two councillors on a planning application.
